winners of the games won all things sweet- nutella jars, cupcake boxes, toblerones and more.

the only alcohol being served was sangria and beer. but a LOT of it was consumed.

the food was ALL Indian. as per the theme.

there was a mumbai street food stall {with mini baked vada pavs, misal pav, dhabeli and kadhi samosa}, a south indian counter, a parantha counter {with all kinds of paranthas with achar, onions and the works}, a gola counter and then of courselots of main courses, salads and deserts.

i regret not eating as much as i would have liked to :( {common compliant for ALL my wedding functions}

BUT i had a blast and it all got over too soon.

thinking about it now and going through the pictures at work makes me cry a little. if only i could re-live those three days again and again and again. oh and the honeymoon too!

^^ as favours for all the guests my mum hand painted wall paintings for each guest. they were all so beautiful. i had a few friends send me pics {post the wedding} with the paintings hung up on their walls. it took her a whole year to make so many of them !^

looking back, i don’t think my wedding and any of the functions would have been possible without help from every single family member of mine. so many of them flew in from different parts of america, germany, japan, new zealand and so many parts of the country. them being around me and living with us for the entire week was probably my favorite part of the wedding. memories to cherish forever.

so MUCH has happened in these past two months that just beginning to think about where to start has overwhelmed me and hence the delay in posting.

these were by far the BEST two months of my life {so UN-expected ;)}

so starting with one my favorite pre-wedding events – the bridal shower

my sister, who’s pregnant and lives in san francisco planned the whole thing with the help of my cousin here in mumbai.

inspite of her pregnancy and inspite of a new job AND a new house. i really got lucky in that department.

the shower was perfect in every way. every single detail was taken care of with so much thought.

my family spent the greater part of the weekend decorating my mama’s hose in neon. the theme was – ‘neon and neutrals’ as if you know me you’d already know that i’m obsessed with all thing NEON.

all – the friends - very enthusiastically followed the theme. thank god we decided to do away with the ‘best dressed award’ as i really wouldn’t know who to gift it to. so many innovative neon outfits.

^^ on the way to my ‘surprise’ bridal shower ;)^^

^^ the beautiful house {do you love the neon pom poms as much as i do? i want to decorate my house with them for always!}

^^ and then there was a hershey’s chocolate fountain^^

^^ and name customized mimosa glasses with the champagne shipped in all the way from frisco! {do you SEE the amount of planning?!}

^^ there were also neon party favours – cookies with A and my initials and wedding date inscribed in them with yummy icing – all homemade by my talented cousin Maitri ^^

^^ a neon note board! handmade by my sister and cousin {man don’t i have the best there is in the sister department?}

^^ a semi-neon macroon cake, once again homemade by Maitri ^^

^^ and the last thing neon – gifts for the bridal shower game winners^^

^^ we played a really fun game of ‘dress your team mate in toilet paper to make her look like a bride’ – can anyone guess who won?^^

^^ and thats just us having a great time^^

so much effort put in by everyone in the family. words cannot express my gratitude. the bridal shower really set the mood for the rest of the events that followed!

p.s. Maitri owns her very own bakery in Mumbai called Carousel – the bake about. you can check her out on facebook if you’d like to give her goodies a try.

i have barely been posting here on bluebay these days. and i feel horrible about it.

have missed this space more than I’d like to admit.

so OMI’s cheerleader has been one of my favorite songs this month. the catch line it goes like this “O i think i’ve found my self a cheerleader, she’s always there when i need her”

it makes me realise how important it is to be your husband’s/ partner’s/ fiance’s/ bf’s biggest cheerleader. this song’s a good reminder because SO very often i forget, in spite of knowing it’s whats most important in any relationship. not that i’m knowledgeable enough to give relationship advice. but if i had to give any… this would be IT.

be his BIGGEST cheerleader and you’ve got your self a life long relationship ;)

on a different note – times are changing WAY too much around here. hence the sporadic blogging.

for starters we get married in 2 months. TWO. close

and then I change my house. my home. my family {well kinda} and my JOB.

Saloni’s leaving town tonite! the country actually. to move to - guess where??? the place that has taken away all my other loved ones :( a.k.a. the united states of america

last saturday was our last night out in the city with her (as a resident).

we went to aer and then to tryst. YES i still love tryst.

and i still love love MY friends. even after all these years. just AS much.

^^ now that is mumbai’s answer to the ‘burrito bowl’. i quite liked it.. it’s being served at loco chino which has several outlets throughout the city^^

^^ they serve chinese and mexican and have the same dimsum menu that was earlier served at buddha belly {so i’m guessing – same owners?} i really liked the dimsums and the burrito bowl both. and SO reasonable.^^

when i first met him i wasn’t very fond of dogs. i was too scared of them. ESPECIALLY alsatians.

and man has that changed now.

over time i have grown to love hugo.

i love how he follows me around the house, the way he stares at me for hours together, the way he licks my feet while i’m sleeping, jumps at me the minute i ring the doorbell and just everything thing else he does.

it was fun to meet my to-be family and get to know them (a.k.a. party with them;))they were so jovial and just SO fun. caught me by surprise, if you ask me.

in other news, went to amby valley last weekend and the weather was SO darn good. such a break from the oven that mumbai becomes this time of the year.

i’m pretty sure one of these days on my way to work i’m going to have a heat stroke…

AND in further news – two random unconnected things i learnt this month that i always want to remember:

1) each one of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. to experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it – tiger eyes, by judy blume

2) people always judge other by the model of their own limitations – so don’t give their judgment as much importance as you do..

everything was amazing. especially the deserts. we even asked for repeats!

^^ it was great catching up with friends on a weekday. everyone’s so caught up in their lives these days. with work. marriage and babies even! we have decided to make it a weekly ritual. here’s hoping we keep up to it! ^^

this weekend. we had saturday off {i feel like those saturdays never come!} so A and i decided to try out byblos.

it was his idea. and am i glad he suggested it? the place was perfect. it’s fun, different and casual. with great food!

we tried the hummus with chicken, kheema lamb bolognese and the grilled stuffed chicken.

ended the meal with beignets {kinda like donuts} and cheesecake.

^^^ i love having saturdays off. the weekend seems so much more satisfying. and also i love spending time with A. specially after a good meal. let’s just say that food makes him very happy ;) ^^

we also tried out the wine fest at radio club this weekend. it had a great wine selection. though i wasn’t a fan of any of the wines i tasted. but then, i wouldn’t say i know much about wine..

^^ ended the night with these cuties at irish house. i love these girls and it’s ALWAYS a fun time with them around^^

have become selfishly absorbed in my life. wedding preps. and dealing with difficulty of ‘the courtship period’

^^ we took this picture yesterday. at a baby shower. ^^

whoever said that those are the best days of a relationship?!? please call me and clarify.

also this whole wedding preps things makes me very self absorbed. which i don’t necessarily like.

i need to start being more active and present and involved in making others lives simpler too.

last week i finished reading the book open. it’s beautiful and gives you SO much to learn about. andre agassi’s life is more inspiring than i’d ever imagined.

in other news..there was a death in my extended family last week. my fiance taught me how important it is to be there for someone in their hard times as opposed to being there for them during their good times ONLY.

i didn’t realise the importance of those words till i noticed how much he was there for my family during our rough times this past week. i’m very grateful and lucky. {but i’ve already said that too many times before…}

work too is tough this month. it’s always the hardest during february. just before year end. when promotions and bonuses are to be declared soon. everyone’s so nervous. and slightly more competitive than usual. do you feel that way too?? or is it all just a figment of my imagination? not sure about that and on that note..

i’ve been super irregular about updating this space and i am going to make an effort to improve.

it’s time i go back to documenting all my favorite moments more often than i do. it’s important and it’s a part of my ‘being grateful’ resolution for this year.

January has been good – generally it’s my least favorite month of the year {isn’t it everyone’s?} – but this year it’s been good to me.

we’ve spent most of this month location shopping for the wedding {which by the way is one of the MOST stressful things i’ve done all my life} i wonder how come no one’s warned me about this before?

a few days ago Adi came over and cooked grilled chicken for me {i think he was making up for one of our fights;)}.

he marinated the chicken in basil, garlic, salt + pepper, mixed dry herbs, curd and olive oil. then after leaving it on for 30 – 40 mins he sauteed the chicken in a pan with some olive oil +mushrooms + garlic. covered it with the lid and let it cook for another 15 – 20 mins.

^^ marinated chicken minus the curd ^^

^^look at him taking his cooking so seriously^^

^^ i just watched with my glass of wine the whole time ;) – in my defense i DID offer to help but he’s just a tiny bit controlling in the kitchen^^

^^ and voila the finished product! – it tastes SO much better than it looks – i promise ^^

it was just like the grilled chicken we order in restaurants. i love how much i learn about cooking being around him. he makes everything look so easy. new year resolution —> cook more often. it’s so much easier and cheaper than eating at a restaurant!

and now about the time i broke that resolution ;) the very next day…

jinal and i decided to try out this new bar we’d heard SO much about – the good wife.

it’s at the deutsche bank building at bandra kurla complex. which is SUCH a good building. i’m contemplating applying to some of the offices in the building for THAT reason alone {i kid, i kid!}

^^ we tried the potato and goat cheese gnocchi – which was REALLY good ^^

^^ and the green garlic rissoto – which is good if you like your food garlicky ^^

and now to put an end to this VERY long post – i maybe almost completing my resolution of visiting at least 2 places i’ve never visited before every year —- by february alone! so many exciting events coming up.